Monday, September 14, 2020

Liberty of London Wrap Dress

In my last post, I shared the wrap top I made using a pattern from the Japanese sewing book Kana's Standard II. In the book, her version is a dress. I loved my top so much so that I wanted to sew a dress. Not a dress with any fabric, I was going to sew with my precious Liberty of London fabric!
I tweaked a few things, results? I love it!! I lengthened the skirt by 4". Also, I cut the sleeves shorter, so they will be 3/4 sleeves instead of long sleeve. I did this after I was done sewing and trying the dress on. I loved the fit, but there are something bothering me and I didn't know what it was. Then, after a while I realized that with the long sleeves, long skirt and floral print, it made the dress a bit like out of Little House on the Prairie. I love it much better after I cut the sleeves shorter. I also had to make a pleat on the cuff to make the opening smaller for a better silhouette. They are not even noticeable; hooray for the printed fabric that hides mishaps well (grin)!
Speaking of printed fabric hiding things well, in the Japanese sewing book, she did a gather skirt, but I wanted to look less puffy, so I decided to do a pleated skirt. I didn't even measurements and mark the pleated lines, I just eyeballed it and pinned like crazy and sewed. It is hard to tell in the pictures, but can you see the pleats??
The last thing I did was to add a button and an elastic loop to the skirt so they stay closed. I love wrap dresses, but one thing I wouldn't want is a wardrobe malfunction when there is a strong wind and I don't think the public would appreciate a middle age women flashing everyone. hahaha Can you even find the button and elastic loop in the picture?
I feel like this pattern will be one of the go to patterns from now on for a wrap top or for a wrap dress. I can see this dress in my mind's eyes in a solid color too. Fall is around the corner, but I am going to wear this with boots and a comfy cardigan.
I am so glad that the dress turned out to be something I love and I am not regretting using the fabric, phew! My "sew my stash" challenge continues, see you at my next post. ;)

11 comments :

  1. That's a lovely dress, Sachiko. The pleats do make an attractive silhouette, and you look so pretty in it. Happy sewing!

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    1. Thank you! Making pleats is definitely more work but I love the results. :)

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  2. Is that book available in English? I would love to sew some of the patterns but can’t read Japanese.

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    1. I think it is only in English. I hope they will translate it in English soon!!

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  3. That is really pretty and I love the fabric. I have so many fabrics in my stash that I need to get busy and use. I hope you have a wonderful week. Diana

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    1. Thank you! Once I started using my stash, different ideas started coming to me. It is so much fun!

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  4. Very nice, you lookso ovely in this dress

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  5. Perfectly beautiful Liberty fabric to make this dress. You are an adorable model, Sachiko. I mean it. You are so beautiful
    This is a sweet dress. Well done!!

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  6. Thank you! Liberty fabric is so nice to sew with. :)

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  7. another huge success. this is another one that i would love to try, since i cannot read Japanese i will have to hope for something close in one of the pattern books ( they are getting smaller and fewer. sad.

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